News from Miss Lopez

We worked on very interesting math-art centers today and friday.  Math centers provide an opportunity for students to practice and apply skills and strategies taught within the classroom. Science and art are about converting the invisible to the visible, so incorporating math centers  into my teaching is a natural fit. We reviewed transformations and created wonderful art pieces!
Taking numbers off of paper and onto something students can touch and feel makes math significantly more relatable and understandable.  When students have the opportunity to use their artistic skills and draw scenarios, they can more easily visualize and figure out math problems related to what they’re learning—from algebra to geometry to probability. Painting flowers petals for example can be used to learn about patterns. For those who find memorizing formulas and calculating volume of shapes to be difficult, visualizing concepts through art—whether drawing, models, or sculpting—can make them more relevant, accessible, and clear.

These centers were so much fun! But let's be honest, math can use a boost in the “favorite subject” category. In fact, math is often associated with fear, boredom, and irrelevance. Adding art to math class makes math less intimidating and more fun, leading to increased interest and causing kids to naturally perform better.  You can ask the munchkins yourselves, we had a blast with tessellations, translations, rotations, symmetry and water colours!
Have a great evening!
MLopez